SOLE (Self Organized Learning Environment) is an engaging inquiry based learning session where students' imaginations are sparked by a BIG question. Inspired by Sugata Mitra's School in the Cloud, the SOLE process, appropriate search tools, and curricular standards will be presented. As students develop and grow as digital citizens, they need opportunities to participate in engaging research based inquiry learning. The SOLE process allows students to read, research, discover, and answer questions related to all areas of the curriculum. Although teachers are typically teaching students to "learn to read", SOLE offers the opportunity for all students to "read to learn". Many common core standards are woven through a singular SOLE session. Children think about a BIG question, self-organize into small groups, decide what to research, develop a presentation, and deliver their presentation to an audience of peers. Peers offer feedback and ask questions at the end of each presentation. This engaging session allows all students to further develop their language arts skills. The benefits are countless and not only include a way to connect curriculum to inquiry, but also allow for students to grow in the area of Social Emotional Learning. Children learn to problem solve, accept differences in each other, and discover successful partnerships with minimal guidance and support from the teacher. Each session ends with a time for reflection and a discussion for goal setting and growth. Conference attendees will leave ready to run a SOLE session and realize that it is the favorite part of the week.
